Automatic wrench



H. F. COREY.

AUTOMATIC WRENCH.

APPLICATION FILED MAYB. l9l7- 1,309,462. Patented July 8, 1919.

5 i y 2 Z 1 A V/ A J .62 HT anucntop UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY FULLER COREY, 0F DES MOINES, IOWA.

AUTOMATIC WRENCH.

Application filed May 8, 1917.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, I'IENRY FULLER Comer, a citizen of the United States, residing at Des Moines, in the county of Polk and State of Iowa, have invented a new and useful Automatic Wrench, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to wrenches of that type designed to adjust themselves automatically to a nut or other object to be engaged thereby, one of the objects of the invention being to provide a wrench having a jaw designed to slide transversely of the shank of the wrench, thus to vary the distance between the jaws, the resistance offered by the engaged object serving to hold the members of the jaw against relative movement after adjustment, thus to relieve from excessive strain, the hand gripping the wrench.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it 'being midjerstood that; changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed, can be made within the scope of What is claimed, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings the preferred form of the invention has been shown.

In said drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation of the wrench.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section therethrough showing the slidable jaw in opened position, by full lines, and in tilted position by dotted lines.

Fig. 3 is a section on line 3-3 Fig. 1.

Referring to the figures by characters of reference 1 designates a shank provided, at one end, with a handle 2 which is preferably bowed while extending from the other end of this shank are obliquely disposed side members 3 merging into a fixed aw 4, there being a slot 5 between the side members 3. These side members merge into side flanges 6 extending from the sides of the shank 1 and that end of the shank 1 which forms one wall of the slot 5 is toothed transversely as indicated at 7.

A pivot pin 8 connects the flanges 6 and pivotally mounted thereon is a lever 9 one end portion of which is preferably bowed to Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 8, 1919.

Serial No. 167,250.

constitute a handle 10, while the other end forms a tongue 11 which projects loosely into a recess 12 formed in a slide 13. This slide is mounted to move in the slot 5 and is provided along one edge with small transverse teeth or serrations 14, while extending from its other edge at one end is a jaw 15 designed to move toward or from the j aw 4.

A spring 16 is interposed between the handles '2 and 10 and serves to hold said handles normally pressed apart so that the aw 15 is normally pressed away from the jaw 4t and the tongue 11 is normally pressed against the shank 1 between the flanges (S.

In using the device, it is merely necessary to place the object to be gripped between the jaws at and 15 and then to draw the handle 10 toward the handle 2. The teeth 14 and 7, being comparatively small, will permit the slide 13 to move within the slots 5, said lide tilting to a slight extent during this movement, thus to disengage the teeth. As soon as the jaw 15 comes against the object so that the object will be gripped between the jaws at and 15, the teeth 14 will be pressed back into engagement with the teeth 7 and, when the wrench is swung so as to rotate the gripped object, the pressure against said object will be sufficient to force the teeth 14. tightly into engagement with the teeth 7 so that there will be no danger of the jaw 15 sliding away from the jaw t, and consequently, the hand grasping the handles 2 and 10 will be re lieved of strain to which it would otherwise be subjected in an effort to hold the jaws together.

As soon as the handles are released, the spring 16 will restore the parts to their initial positions.

What is claimed is A wrench including a shank having an obliquely disposed end portion merging into a fixed jaw, there being a slot extending through said obliquely disposed portion, that end wall of the slot remote from the jaw be ing formed with teeth, a slide mounted within the slot and having a jaw thereon, one edge of the slide being adapted to engage an article placed between the jaws, teeth upon the opposite edge of the slide and adapted to engage the teeth on the end wall of the slot, a member pivotally mounted on the my own, I have hereto affixed my signature shank and having a terminal tongue, there in the presence of tWo Witnesses. bein ye slot theelicie for the tig n r w the tongue, said slide being tiltazb'le Within *HNBY FUL QQOBQEY 5 the slot to disengage its teeth from the teeth 'Wi-tnesses:

in the slot.

Dew, In testimony that I claim the foregoing as A. S. LEBOI Copies of this patent may be obtained for five ,giep t s 3311, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. 

